Horsfall D J, Mayne K, Ricciardelli C, Rao M, Skinner J M, Henderson D W, Marshall V R, Tilley W D
Department of Surgery, Flinders University School of Medicine, Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia.
Lab Invest. 1994 May;70(5):753-63.
The histology of benign disease of the human prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia) is heterogeneous. No other species demonstrates the same complexity, and current animal models do not appear to fully encompass the stromal and epithelial developmental changes involved in the human disease. This study describes age-related changes in the prostatic smooth muscle stroma of guinea pigs and humans, which may be pertinent to some aspects of the disease process in humans.
Histologic and ultrastructural changes were examined and measured in the prostates of guinea pigs during aging (2 weeks to 31 months). Similar measurements were also made in human prostatic tissues during aging and the development of benign prostatic pathology.
Morphometric analyses of prostates in guinea pigs and men demonstrated similar changes in stromal volume with age. The stromal volume proportion of the prostate in both species decreases at puberty due to the expansion of the epithelial cell compartment, and is followed by a progressive increase during adulthood until a maximum stromal content of approximately 75% of total tissue volume is reached at age 2 years in guinea pigs, and at age 70 years in men. The pathognomic feature of nodularity and the dramatic increase in gland size observed during the late stages of human benign prostatic disease did not occur in the guinea pig prostate. Ultrastructural analysis of guinea pig prostatic smooth muscle cells identified a progressive hypertrophy (approximately 10-fold) from prepuberty through to old age. Two-thirds of smooth muscle cells in the prostatic stroma of aging individuals of both species demonstrated perinuclear organelles (rough endoplasmic reticulum and free ribosomes) that were not present in younger individuals.
The prominent histologic features of the guinea pig prostate during aging are increased stromal mass, significant stromal fibrosis, and occasional prostatitis. These features are frequently observed in men with clinical benign prostatic hyperplasia. The age-related increases in prostatic smooth muscle cell size and content of perinuclear organelles in the guinea pig suggest a re-activation of cellular synthetic activity. The similarity in some features of the prostatic smooth muscle stroma between aging men and guinea pigs suggests that there may be common pathophysiologic processes. We conclude that the guinea pig could be a useful model for examination of the age-related hypertrophy of the smooth muscle cell and the processes inducing reversion to a more synthetic smooth muscle cell phenotype.
人类前列腺良性疾病（良性前列腺增生）的组织学具有异质性。没有其他物种表现出相同的复杂性，并且目前的动物模型似乎并未完全涵盖人类疾病中涉及的基质和上皮发育变化。本研究描述了豚鼠和人类前列腺平滑肌基质中与年龄相关的变化，这可能与人类疾病过程的某些方面相关。
在豚鼠衰老过程中（2周龄至31月龄）对前列腺进行组织学和超微结构变化的检查和测量。在人类前列腺组织衰老以及良性前列腺病变发展过程中也进行了类似的测量。
豚鼠和男性前列腺的形态计量学分析表明，基质体积随年龄有相似变化。由于上皮细胞区室的扩张，两个物种前列腺的基质体积比例在青春期均下降，随后在成年期逐渐增加，直到豚鼠在2岁时、男性在70岁时达到约占总组织体积75%的最大基质含量。人类良性前列腺疾病晚期出现的结节状病理特征以及腺体大小的显著增加在豚鼠前列腺中未出现。对豚鼠前列腺平滑肌细胞的超微结构分析发现，从青春期前到老年，平滑肌细胞逐渐肥大（约10倍）。两个物种衰老个体前列腺基质中三分之二的平滑肌细胞显示出年轻个体中不存在的核周细胞器（粗面内质网和游离核糖体）。
豚鼠前列腺在衰老过程中的突出组织学特征是基质质量增加、显著的基质纤维化和偶发的前列腺炎。这些特征在临床良性前列腺增生的男性中经常观察到。豚鼠前列腺平滑肌细胞大小和核周细胞器含量随年龄的增加表明细胞合成活性重新激活。老年男性和豚鼠前列腺平滑肌基质的一些特征相似，这表明可能存在共同的病理生理过程。我们得出结论，豚鼠可能是研究平滑肌细胞与年龄相关的肥大以及诱导平滑肌细胞表型转变为更具合成性的过程的有用模型。
